


And Certain Stars Shot Madly From Their Spheres

by slightly_murderous_sorcerer (emerald_witch_esmeralda)



Category: Versailles (TV 2015)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Established Relationship, F/M, Gore (later chapters), Human William, Intrigue, M/M, Siren Monchevy, all dat good shit, sea witch maintenon, siren au, siren louis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:00:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24316180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emerald_witch_esmeralda/pseuds/slightly_murderous_sorcerer
Summary: Several young women have gone missing from coastal Dutch towns, the first one was a coincidence. The second one was a tragedy...the hundredth and nineteenth one was anoutrage. William of Orange was not going to sit by and let this happen to his subjects, not when he had a very good idea of what, or ratherwhowas taking them. Few had confronted the Golden Death and lived to tell the tale, but that all ended today...or did it? The Prince set out to end a vicious predator, but his discovery would shake up the foundation of two worlds, and he leaves with a rather different quarry than he had hoped to capture.
Relationships: Chevalier de Lorraine/Philippe d'Orléans | Monsieur (Versailles 2015), Guillaume d'Orange/Louis XIV (Versailles 2015), Madame de Maintenon/Louis XIV, Monchevy in later chapters
Kudos: 11





	1. The Golden Death

**Author's Note:**

> This really just came about because I wanted to write fic and also wanted to do a siren AU...and Wouis was the perfect candidate. I've challenged myself to complete a fic, and this one I intend to complete. I'm back in class so I can't promise a perfect uploading schedule, but I do plan to complete this fic by the end of the year. The title comes from A Midsummer Night's Dream, where Oberon has the convo with Puck before giving Titania the love juice:  
>  _My gentle Puck, come hither. Thou rememberest  
>  Since once I sat upon a promontory  
> And heard a mermaid on a dolphin’s back  
> Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath  
> That the rude sea grew civil at her song  
> And certain stars shot madly from their spheres  
> To hear the sea maid’s music?_

One-hundred and nineteen. To anybody, that would be a huge number depending on the object...some people who had many things would probably think it tiny and arbitrary. However, most people didn’t tend to think about numbers too much unless they were counting things. This number though, this number had taken a hold of William’s head and would not let go for the life of him.  
_One-hundred and nineteen_ maidens. Innocent girls, girls in the absolute flower of their life that did absolutely nothing wrong but be young and beautiful...he didn’t know them personally so they may have done wrong things, but whatever they did, no human deserved to die like that. Pulled into the inky, icy-cold depths of an unforgiving ocean with no hope of escape and devoured alive, seeing your own blood pool and cloud within the water and feeling your flesh be torn from your bones. The mere thought of it made William shudder, hoping that the rest of his council didn't see it.  
“Are you absolutely sure about these numbers, de Witt?” William demanded, looking up at his chief advisor and father figure. Johan leaned back in his chair and fixed his prince with that steely gray gaze that would’ve struck terror in the heart of an ordinary man but didn't seem to phase William, who blinked owlishly.  
“Positive, Lord Stadtholder. This is the one-hundredth and nineteenth young woman to have disappeared after a trip to the seaside. Margrete de Vries was with two of her maidservants collecting pearls and shells, the surviving girl reports the same thing that all the others did. A melodious voice, grabbing hold of the girls as if by some foul sorcery, hypnotizing them into forgetting their own minds. They then swim out toward the sound of that voice, not even ropes have been able to hold some of them back... there’s a flash of gold and a scream, and then nothing. It was as if she never existed. She shares characteristics with most of the victims: young, intensely beautiful, fair-haired and blue eyed...seems as though the killer has a preference."  
“But do you believe it is Louis? Many people scoff at the notion that he even exists.”  
“Any human murderer would’ve at least left some sort of evidence...if it isn’t the Sea King than it’s the devil himself, of that I am certain. I don’t believe that mortal hands are at work here. There is also the fact that some kingdoms send Louis their female criminals as tribute, and the ladies are never heard from again."  


  
"Maybe they drowned during a storm or something happened to their boat?"  
“All of them, Highness? I seriously doubt it."  
"You may have a point...but why do such a thing? What power does he have over the mighty powers of Europe?"  
"Ours is a seafaring continent, especially the isles like Great Britain...I suppose it's a precaution in exchange for calm weather while sailing, they say that the Mer have power over the weather and the sea, especially their ruler. And the countries that have failed to send tribute? Coastlines racked with storms, fishermen yielding less catch...it’s just an ugly situation all around.”  
“And now he has the audacity to target us. Something must be done because we can't keep losing our subjects like this, one is too many but one hundred and nineteen? This has gone far too far and nobody has dared to try to raise a hand?”  
“Perhaps nobody has succeeded.”  
“Not yet. I'll put a stop to it myself."  
"William, it's dangerous. You are the Prince of Orange and you have no heirs, you shouldn’t be risking your life like this. Let your army handle it, your guards..."  
“I’ve been a soldier since I was sixteen years old, Johan. I’ve been on the battlefield, I’ve risked my life and stared death in the face. Leaders lead, they don’t just let their subjects handle everything for them and I don't see what's so different now. I'm protecting my kingdom from a threat..."  
"At least take some backup with you. Or let a trusted man do the leading. I know you are upset about their deaths, any man would be! Especially a man as big-hearted and generous as you are, of course you feel the pain of their loss..."  
"I'm pretty sure that my anger is nothing compared to all those families. Those mothers, fathers. Brothers, sisters, husbands, betrotheds and lovers. One-hundred and nineteen of _my_ subjects are dead, Johan! _One-hundred and nineteen_ and you just want me to go and pass the burden to somebody else like a fucking stack of paperwork?! These aren't fucking stacks of paperwork, these are our women! Our women who depend upon us, their men and their Prince to protect them, and so far we have failed them miserably."  
"This isn't your fault..."  
"Whose is it then?! This has been happening under my nose this entire time and I'm only stopping it now?! Why have you kept this from me?" William's voice had gone deadly low, and de Witt at least had the decency to look away even though he uttered not a word. "These aren't just some silly girls who ran away with their lovers, if what you're telling me is true then there is a _monster_ living in our seas! Terrorizing our people and...my God, _eating_ our women! Eating them alive, like some twice-damned animal and they are merely beef steaks! I'll be damned if I just sit idly by and do nothing, I know you brought me up as your son but I'm a grown man now and I will lead the hunting party against the Golden Death. You have no say in the matter, I'm afraid. If I am a ruler, I protect the people under my charge even if that means putting my own life on the line. You taught me that. Don't you remember, _Father_?" Both men, equally stubborn stared each other down, eyes seeming to bore into the souls of one another. In the end, William won the battle of wills as de Witt backed down with a grumble. "As you wish, Your Highness."  
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me gentlemen, I must retire to my chambers and prepare. We're going fishing tomorrow."  


  


  
And that's how the Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of Holland ended up on this boat in the middle of the night, in the middle of the ocean. His men had insisted on accompanying him to the shore, but William insisted that he sail out alone. The soldiers, instructed to stay there and watch if the siren escaped him as a last line of defense begrudgingly followed their orders, the prince hushing their cries of "are you sure, Highness" did nothing to ease the reluctance of these men to leave their beloved commander to his own devices against this unknown foe. It put warmth in his heart at this display of loyalty. His people trusted him, he was going to solidify their trust by making sure they didn't lose another one of their girls. "We'll be having fresh fish tonight, boys!" William remembered his own cheerful voice as he sailed out, but now the confidence he had felt then started to slip away little by little the further he got away from the land's edge. What if Johan was right and this _was_ a fool's errand?  
"No." William steeled his resolve, attaching the spearhead to the end of his harpoon just to have something to do with his hands. He had a duty to his people to protect them, and he had battled face to face with some of the toughest, most bloodthirsty commanders in Europe, what was one fish? Even if that fish did have a man's face?  
_Sirens don't come out during the day, it tends to dry out their skin. They prefer the moon, where the tide is strongest._ Johan's words echoed in his head, the man had certainly done his research. William merely thought about those girls, those girls were in his charge and they would get some justice if he could help it. But the water was undisturbed save for the small waves that rocked his clipper in the ocean's perilous cradle. There was no flash, nothing peeked above the water, just eerie and unsettling silence surrounded by nothing but inky, swirling black. Were his men worried about him now? How much time had passed? Minutes, hours? It was hard to tell...this really was much like fishing as a child, sitting on the water for what felt like an eternity in the vain hopes that something would bite. But back then, he and Johan had bait...he refused to bring the kind of bait needed to catch _this_ particular fish. Perhaps Johan had been right, maybe he was growing too soft. It didn't matter now, he was here and he had a job to do. Lions didn't give up when stalking their prey, and neither would he. Not when so many lives were on the line, he'd stay out here all night if that was what it took.  


  


  
_Alas my love, you do me wrong. To cast me off discourteously._  
"Mother?" William's eyelids snapped open at the voice, scrambling to an upright position and chastising himself for having fallen asleep. _For I have loved you well and long, delighting in your company_. There it was again...that same haunting tone. So he wasn't dreaming...he was pretty sure that he was awake now. The fact that his surroundings appeared the same as before, he could cross hallucinating off the list as well...but then, where was it coming from? He was the only person out here. The singing started to pick up and a warm, not entirely unpleasant feeling settled over William's body at that voice, adding weight to his limbs...sleep would've readily returned to him if he wasn't mentally snapping himself awake at every turn. It was the finest voice he had ever heard. "Snap out of this William, focus! Who the hell is singing "Greensleeves?" William head a splash and looked up, a bright flash across the waves before what was unmistakably a tail fin plunged back into the water, that singing trailing along like the train on a woman's gown. Readying his harpoon, he watched the surface be broken up again by a shimmer and listened for the splash that told him his quarry was now at least partially above water. A yellowish figure breached just feet away, its back turned. That damned singing again. _Gotcha._ Aiming the barb toward the figure, he took a deep breath and with all his strength he let it loose, watching it fly toward his target.


	2. Harpoon Was Never Wrought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> William finally comes face-to-face with this new threat, but the hunt will not be as easy or end as quickly as he had hoped for. This will be no ordinary catch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title is from: That Bright Chimeric Beast, an excellent poem written by one of the greatest queer black poets of all time, Mister Countee Cullen. I recommend everyone go read it, it's good af, you'll love it.

William watched his harpoon fly, it stopped...but not buried in the flesh of the merman like he had hoped. Rather, it had been stopped by his prey intercepting it in midair. His dark eyes grew impossibly wide, as Louis...or whom he assumed to be Louis turned around and swam close enough to give him an impish grin while still keeping his distance. Well, it would've been impish if not for the mouthful of serrated teeth.  
“Cute." He laughed like lute-song that was just as enchanting as his singing, catching the harpoon in his hand and with a yank he snapped the rope as if were little more than embroidery thread. William could only stare. "You mortals and your little toys, you learn how to sharpen something to a point and all of a sudden you think you're invincible." He turned over the smooth wooden spear, curiously poking a webbed finger. "Harpoons, how original. Seriously, I have enough of the damned things to redo the framework on my palace, I don't need anymore, thanks. Why don't you humans send something nice, something different? Jade is always nice, very hard to get a hold of though. Empires don't really build statues of jade that sink into the water, even the Chinese only really used it for small things...so yes, I would love some more jade."  


  
"Bastard!" William shouted, grabbing his gun and shooting off a round into the water. He saw no merman, but a splash was hard on the far opposite side of his boat. "Hold still, you son of a..." "Well that was just rude, I thought we were having a very lovely conversation." Louis' admittedly beautiful face now had a pout on it. "There is absolutely nothing I am interested in discussing with the likes of you, you fucking murderer!"  
"Murderer? Honestly? Is a shark a murderer for eating a fish or a seal or a penguin? Or is he merely trying to feed himself and his family? Are you a murderer when you shoot down a buck or a boar?"  
"That's not even remotely comparable!" William growled, even in the dimness of the moonlight the redness of his skin would be apparent to anybody who looked at him. His fine features were curled up into a snarl, the blood seemed to all rush to the surface of his skin . In other words, he was absolutely _livid_. "Those are animals, those girls were human!" "Humans are animals, technically. We are all animals..."  
"They had feelings, thoughts! Families! Those are MY girls, and you take their lives like..."  
"Yes, and so do I. So do the whales and the dolphins and the guppies that swim underneath us. Everything that lives and breeds has thoughts, feelings and families. We're not plants, William of Orange-Nassau."  
"How do you know my name?!"  
"I assume the same way that you know mine, somebody told me. Mer talk just as well as humans do." As if he were having a pleasant chat over tea and his life wasn't in danger, Louis busied himself with untangling his hair with his fingers, singing softly to himself. _"Greensleeves was my heart of go-old, and who but my Lady Greensleeves?"_  
William blurted out a question that came unbidden and unexpected even to him. "Why Greensleeves?" Louis laughed again, that laugh that made William feel like he had cotton in his ears and that he was wrapped in a lead blanket. He could almost feel himself drift off to sleep.  
"Greensleeves is old, it's a classic. I don't.know a single person who hasn't heard Greensleeves, and it's a fine melody to boot. Anyway, why don't you be a dear and put that gun away, hmm?"  
“You’ve been murdering my subjects, Louis. Now, those girls will get their justice and you're going to pay for their deaths with your miserable life.”  
He aimed another pistol at his forehead, and Louis merely stared down the barrel.  
“Well you certainly came weaponed-up. My good man, I have committed no crimes, I assure you."  
"You don't think that the abduction and murder of innocent women is a crime?!"  
"I don't take lives out of malice unless it's an enemy...it's simply a matter of survival, that's all. It’s nothing personal, as King of the Mer it’s my duty to take care of my subjects, and that means providing food for them. It's a poor monarch who can't feed his people."  
"You can't eat seafood?"  
"We do, but sometimes numbers run low due to weather and....overfishing." Pitch-black eyes, like the soulless eyes of a fish stared at him with a bit of a spark. "We're designed to be the perfect predators, when we run low on food I have to turn elsewhere so we don't starve to death. Isn't that what all kings do?"  
“Not all sirens, from what I heard. Maybe you're just horrid and making an excuse for your behavior."  
"Pardon?"  
"You know, I heard about your brother, La Lune de La Mer. The legends say that Prince Philippe is a better hunter than you. Silver like the moon and even more beautiful with the grace of a dancer.” William relished the scowl that appeared on that beautiful face. "I bet he wouldn't resort to eating human women, being stout of heart and kind and generous for a siren. Heard he even has human friends, my navy soldiers have brought me tidings."  
“My brother is too soft-hearted to do what must be done and prefers to spend his time singing to idiotic sailor men, so I have to take care of it myself. As a fellow leader, surely you’d understand that.” The Silver Prince may have very well been beautiful, but few had ever seen him...and William certainly hadn't. His goal had been to get under the Sun of the Sea's skin...or, scales rather. Because it wasn't like he was ugly, not by a long shot. Louis was exquisite beauty carved from gold, only his pitch black eyes and jagged saw-like teeth gave away his true nature. William was dealing with a dangerous predator and he’d had best not forget it lest he end up dinner. This was a battlefield, not a ballroom. Danger was not to be courted like a fair maiden or a handsome gent.  
“Why only women?”  
“Women taste better. I can have a man if necessary, but they tend to be all gristle, y'know? My brother prefers women, he gets rather upset with me whenever I bring a man home and I have to hear him sulk about it for days. He thinks human men are too beautiful to eat...what a child." The disdain was clear in his voice.  
"You do realize that you're talking about eating _people_ , right?"  
"No different than people who eat fish, you've been eating my subjects since the dawn of time but when I return the favor it's a problem? The hypocrisy of humans." Louis' hands immediately went to his hair again, William remembering the legends that Johan would read him as a child...back when they still _were_ legends. All Mer were vain, especially sirens. But the golden Lord of the Deep in particular loved to have his fine hair and his fine scales admired, so he was a very vain creature prone to preening. It amused him to see firsthand just how true that was. The cunning, arrogance and vanity of a tiger, but it's not like it was entirely unearned arrogance. Louis was...he was _stunning_. With every swish of his tail, the golden scales that covered it like plate armour and rested in patches on his shimmering yellow skin sparkled like a thousand miniature golden stars embedded inside mirrors. Everything from his flowing hair to the fine tunic that clung wetly to his lithe form were gold, like a beam of sunlight given shape.  


  


  
"Tell me. These women, did you take their honor before you took their lives? Did you make the humiliation doubled?"  
"You mean did I seduce them? Sometimes, of course!" Louis laughed again, but this time it put a shard of ice in William's stomach. "Beauty is beauty, human, mer, doesn't matter. Life is too short to not pursue pleasure whenever you can, especially for you lot." William scowled, his stare seemed as if he were trying to burn the Sea King with his eyes.. "Now don't look at me like that, I'm merely telling you the truth."  
"So you get pleasure in fucking dying women? Is that it?! You are...sick!" the prince spat. "Sick, and psychotic!"  
"I get pleasure from _beauty_ , as I stated only minutes ago. And speaking of beauty..." Louis studied William's features...his fine dark eyes, as black and sharp as an obsidian knife. His curling brown hair appeared softer than an otter’s fur, and about the same shade by the looks of it. He had the broad shoulders of a soldier...his skin, so much warmer than his own and pink-and-white like blushing roses. Took a minute to admire that straight nose and high cheekbones, much like the marble statues that lined his palace corridors. This prince was art made flesh, he was beautiful for a human. He entertained the idea that Philippe would have probably been very pleased with this one. "I should bring you back as a gift for my brother, I don't like his current playmate and have been trying to get him a new one. He's fond of handsome men-toys, maybe if I get him a nice present he'll stop bitching at me for at least one day. How much?"  
“I’m a person, not some toy or a pet. And all the treasures beneath the waves wouldn't be enough.”  
"Unless you'd rather have me instead? I like a man with taste and high standards...you've got the rank and the looks, but I don't know much else about you.  
"I do want you. Dead. And I thought you liked women?"  
"I do...but I'll try anything at least once." William fired another shot, and Louis darted under the water again. However, this time it appeared he was a bit too late because when he resurfaced, he was clutching his shoulder. "Next one is for right between your eyes."  
"Well...I see I overstayed my welcome." Louis was clearly in pain with the way his words were gritted out and how his breathing had become ragged, but besides that his demeanor didn't seem to change except to glare at William. "It seems that we are enemies now."  
"Seems that way, yes. Now pray to your heathen god, do you have any last words, monster?"  
"You won't kill me. Many a human has tried that but failed...although it is cute that they try. No, I will not stick around...but you bought yourself a declaration of war the moment you wounded me."  
"Bold of you to assume that I haven't declared war on you already. What in the world makes you think that I'll just let you leave? After what you did?!"  
"Oh, well the thing is...you don't have much of a choice." Louis flashed William a fanged grin despite the throbbing pain in his arm, his sash having been tied around his wound to staunch the bleeding somewhat.  
"What do you mean I don't have a cho...wh..what are you doing?" The cotton was violently being shoved into his ears now, sky and sea started to spin as haunting notes washed over him. "B...bastard! Stop this, I'll kill you!" He was able to resist before, but being awake for this long with little reprieve had taken their toll on his strength. Was he really trying to seduce him? Now, in his condition? No, this song was different. More...potent. Louis had not been really trying before, but there was actual power in this song.  
"I look forward to it." _Now your life is mine, Prince of Orange. From this day on, you belong to the Deep Lord...you are my own nemesis. That means, no-one is allowed to kill you but me._ were the last words William heard in a soft swimming echo before his vision went completely black. 


End file.
